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A PLEA FOR 
MODERATION 

Based upon Observations 
ol an American Woman 
in a Belligerent Country 

BY ANNIE LEMP KONTA 




r 



WILLIAM THE SECOND 



A PLEA FOR 
MODERATION 



Based 'upon Observations of an American 
Woman in a Belligerent Country 

BY 

ANNIE LEMP KONTA 



NEW YORK 

Published by The Fatherland Corporation 

1915 



•>!- 



At tlie outbreak of hostilities, I thought it beyond hu- 
man comprehension that after centuries of civilization, 
millions and millions of men should stand lined against 
each other in what was to be the fiercest fight the world 
has ever seen. I felt the hopelessness of human striving, 
until in the midst of a belligerent nation, I saw and felt 
that nation's exaltation. It was good to have lived if for 
that alone. 

Must we, in our present state of civilization, look to 
war and pay its price for a vision of the high destiny of 
man? 



'\ OF {} 
MAR 15 1915 



A Plea for Moderation 

I confess to a feeling of keen disappointment at the un- 
willingness of the larger part of the anti-German majority 
in this country to display any semblance of charitable 
feelings for the object of their antipathy. It is my hope, 
rather than the purpose of these words, that a feeling of 
sympathy at least shall be engendered toward all the com- 
batants. If indeed the present conflict is to be considered 
an occasion when the propaganda of universal peace can be 
most opportunely and optimistically advanced, it is surely 
unfortunate to discern a feeling of bitterness against an 
important nation, a nation that must be included in any 
scheme so comprehensive. It can not be part of this move- 
ment to contemplate the destruction of a nation that has 
been among the most progressive in peaceful pursuits, 
merely because it has at the same time best developed its 
military organization. 

That Germany has been a progressive nation and a use- 
ful one, no one will deny, and there is a large number of 
anti-Germans who profess friendly feelings for the German 
people, but swear deadly hatred against the Kaiser and the 
war party. Any attempt to point out that the German 
nation is the war party is summarily dismissed and any 
phenomenon of that nature is attributed to the first blast 
of enthusiasm of a people facing a great crisis, encouraged 
by deliberate deception on the part of officialdom. Never- 
theless there is little concrete evidence of such friendli- 
ness, and the attitude is open to the suspicion of being a 
veneer for deep-rooted antipathy against the whole nation. 

It is not my intention to prepare a brief for the Ger- 
mans, however stronglj^ my sympathies may impel me. 
Much has been Avritten convincingly on both sides — but 
in every case there are premises which are founded up on 
assumption or links in the chain of reasoning which are not 
established upon fact. However uncertain the outcome of 
the war, one thing is certain and that is that when it does 



end, tliere will be a great effort on the part of those con- 
cerned, to present every item of their respective cases with 
the utmost force and fortified with every possible proof. 
There will be an accumulation of evidence much of Avhich 
has not yet been bared and, which is still more impoitant, 
there will be the possibility of a perspective not now ex- 
isting. Then if ever, w^hether belligerents or neutrals fix 
the terms of peace, the concentration and sifting of able 
minds will approximate a judgment now impossible to 
formulate, fastening upon one or the other of the belliger- 
ent groups a preponderance of responsibility — for is there 
any of us that will tolerate a pharisaical attitude in either 
of them? 

As I learned upon my recent return to this country, 
perhaps the chief reasons given for the intense antipathy 
to Germany is traceable to two circumstances made much 
of during the beginning of hostilities, the violation of the 
neutrality of Belgium, and the commission of atrocities 
upon its inhabitants. 

As I shall attempt to 'explain a little further on, these 
and kindred matters were presented to me in so totally 
different a light, that it was difficult for me to comprehend 
the view-point existing in this country. I shall not attempt 
to convince nor persuade any one to adopt the view-point 
which appealed to me as the just one, by reason of German 
surroundings and influences, but to intimate that ques- 
tions that can so earnestly be answered in opposite ways, 
should surely not be too hastily answered to the everlasting 
detriment of a large and heretofore peaceful and industri- 
ous people. However we may hate the Gemans, we know 
that our population has drawn on them heavily, and, it can- 
not be denied, profitably. If the American people is to judge, 
and judge it must, let it not judge hastily. A judge will not 
pass judgment after hearing one side, unless there is but 
one side. And his determination that there is but one side, 
must not be founded on assumption. So let the American 
people reserve judgment, ])earing in mind the German 
earnestness and conviction of righteousness no less strong 
than that of its opponents. Until that time let us encour- 

6 



age some degree of sympathy for the feelings and actions 
of the Germans, so that when the time for judging them 
arrives, we may not have prejudged. i 

It is evident that I have become imbued with the Ger- 
man point of view and lest that be taken as a token dis- 
qualifying me from judgment, or seeking to guide the de- 
termination of judges, let me outline the circumstances 
and experiences which impressed me. 

It is significant to my mind that the Americans who 
have been in Germany since the outbreak of the war, have 
Avithout exception, to my knowledge, shown strong sym- 
pathies for the Germans and their cause. The repeated 
and insistent tales of contemptible outrages practised upon 
Americans in Germany at tlie outbreak of the war have 
been proven false or grossly overdrawn without exception, 
although they were accepted in this country. In fact the 
Germans find their ablest champions in these people. An 
intimate view of a person will often prove the most effec- 
tive means of dissipating slander, and I am convinced that 
an intimate view of the German people during their pres- 
ent crisis, would go further in nullifying the effects of a 
blind acceptance of the slanders of the English newspapers, 
than argument upon argument. 

As in the case of many other Americans my presence in 
the midst of the European crisis was an unexpected inci- 
dent of a European pleasure trip. With a love for quiet em- 
phasized by my residence a greater portion of the year in 
the bustle of New York, I repaired this summer, as in past 
summers, to the altitude and restfulness of the Engadine. 
There in the quiet walks upon the slopes of wooded moun- 
tains, with the lakes far below, and the vista of the upper 
and lower Engadine stretching out before me, I have 
learned most deeply to appreciate Goethe's truism — Ueber 
alien Gipfeln ist Ruh. But the force of this truism was 
rudely shattered. With the first news of the approaching 
Storm of the Nations, came a fever of frenzied excitement, 
consternation, and hurried departures among the visitors 
of St. Moritz. 



In that spot there is always to be found a very cos- 
mopolitan crowd, and after the excitement of the early 
departures had subsided, the remaining guests were left 
to little else than a discussion pro and con of the 
causes of the conflict and an analysis of events. It was 
interesting to listen to the comments and arguments called 
forth by the appearance of telegrams twice daily, giving 
the reports from different sources of the progress of the 
war. Although there was a sprinkling of all nations, and 
heated arguments ensued, the venom that I have since 
discovered, and can still discover in the English and 
American papers was not disclosed. I do not wish to claim 
a peculiar virtue for our small gathering, but we did not 
accept with finality the wild suppositions and fabrications 
of excited minds, Avhich were purveyed to us in profusion. 

More serious matters were more seriously discussed. 
The marching of the German troops through Belgium, 
while regarded as a terrible expedient, was not presented to 
us as the commission of frivolous crime or the deliberate 
violation of treaty. People generally were cognizant of 
the diplomatic differences and Gladstone's opinion regard- 
ing the treaty of 1839 — a treaty guaranteeing the neutral- 
ity of Belgium to which Great Britian. France, Austria, 
Russia, Prussia, and the German Confederation Avere 
parties. In 1866, the German Confederation had been dis- 
solved by the war betw^een Prussia and Austria, and in 
1867 the North German Union was founded with Prussia 
as its largest state. At the beginning of the Franco-Prus- 
sian War, in 1870, Great Britain, the power most inter- 
ested in the maintenance of Belgian neutrality, was con- 
firmed by the opinion of Gladstone, then Prime-rMinister, 
in the apprehension that the changes of government of the 
German Confederation had abrogated the guaranty of the 
treaty. In consequence Great Britain obtained new 
treaties from the French government and from the North 
German Union, guaranteeing the neutrality of Belgium 
during the period of the war, and for one year from the 
date of its termination. This treaty expired in 1872. 

It was not contended that a treaty was necessary to 
protect the neutrality of a nation, or that in its absence, 

8 



its neutrality need not be respected, but it was recognized 
that Germany Avas to be set upon on all sides, and that if 
her most obvious salvation lay in going through Belgium, 
dire necessity was her excuse. 

Then followed a period when the first American papers 
arrived, with evident perversions of occurrences through 
English channels. Announcements in the Swiss papers 
of the internment of several hundred French soldiers who 
had crossed over into Swiss territory, became a German 
invasion of Switzerland. Other headlines informed us 
of matters that Avere not even perversions of fact, but fab- 
rication. Thus Ave learned that the Germans Avere in full 
retreat everywhere, that the Frankfort station Avas in 
ashes, that the city had been stormed by the enemy. The 
papers spoke Avith assurance, but the forty-tAvo centimeter 
hoAvitzers were at the same time reducing the fortresses 
in Belgium. Our ncAvspapers like the proverbial sheep of 
Panurge, faithfully followed the leadership of England's 
mighty newspaper chieftain. As Napoleon said of Metter- 
nich: "II ment. II faut mentir quelquefois, mais mentir 
tout le temps, c'est trop." 

During this time, so anxious for all Switzerland, re- 
markable solicitude was shown the guests at the Kulm 
and the Palace hotels at St. Moritz. With rumors of in- 
ternational complications, and food and coal shortage, 
American checks and even mere verbal promises were ac- 
cepted in payment of bills, but nevertheless, almost panic- 
stricken, many people risked leaving this haven for the dis- 
comforts and dangers always attending mobilization. 

After the mobilization was practically over, I decided 
to go to GermauA' to offer my services to the Red Cross. 
I took the route A'ia Zurich and Romanshorn, crossing- 
Lake Constance to Lindau, the frontier town of Germany. 
Landed at Lindau, I Avas met by the custom officials with 
the utmost courtesy. My pasports and my baggage were ex- 
amined and I took the train for Munich, arriving on sched- 
ule time, with my trunks, still on a peace footing, both as to 
size and number, in good order. 

9 • 



It was vei-y different nevertlieless, than on former visits, 
for the state of war was strikingly reflected, not only by 
the earnestness and enthusiasm of the people, but also by 
^ a succession of sights never to be forgotten. At the fron- 
tier, a Red Cross Station with wounded soldiers from 
the West, was the first tangible evidence of the gigantic 
struggle that had begun, evidence that was to be multiplied 
in unceasing succession. Soldiers were everywhere. At 
all stations, women were standing with great pots of hot 
soup and coffee for the soldiers. At Munich I saw train 
after train filled with them, pull out of the station j to be 
replaced by hospital trains, as if on schedule. On one 
occasion w^hen a train load of wounded soldiers arrived, it 
was found necessary to operate five men without delay, 
which was done in the operating room on the train. The 
street tram cars were brought into requisition as a means 
of transportation for the wounded. I often saw twelve 
cars, together with beds, on which were lying the wounded 
soldiers, attended by Red Cross men-nurses in white uni- 
forms. 

And yet to my amazement, I found that in Munich as 
well as in the other German cities I visited, Frankfort, 
Wiesbaden, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Duisburg, there was 
no lack of able-bodied men to consummate the work in the 
banks, business houses, public service, and even in the fac- 
tories and public parks. The operas and theaters were 
playing patriotic plays and were well attended as were also 
the concerts. The streets were cleaned and the parks tended 
as of old. The grass was cut, the bushes trimmed and in 
the fields the harvests were gathered in. The spirit of 
determination and sacrifice was evident in every one. 

After spending several days in visiting the hospitals, 
I left Munich for Wiesbaden wliich had been trans- 
formed into the hospital city par excellence of Germany. 
There I had the good fortune to be introduced to the heads 
of the various Hospitals, the Stiften or Foundations, the 
Red Cross, and the private Lazaretten. One of the finest 

10 



of the latter class is under the auspices of the Baroniii von 
der Goltz, the head of whose house is Baron von der Goltz, 
until recently Governor of Belgium. She "vvears the nurses 
costume and personally attends the Avounded. It was in 
this hospital that I first saw a dum-dum bullet and evi- 
dence of its ghastly work. One soldier, a fine looking 
Teuton, had both arms bandaged and wiien the bandages 
were removed, I saw the small wound made by the bullet 
on entering the left arm, leaving a larger jagged wound as 
it passed out. The same bullet practically shattered the 
right arm. In the Paulinen Stiff, under the patronage of 
the Princess von Schaumburg-Lippe, I saw some astound- 
ing results of the modern method of treating surgical cases, 
without resorting to amputation. 

I spoke to some four or five hundred Avounded soldiers 
and officers and heard tales of awful atrocities committed 
by the Belgians. The tales of devilish work of the Franc- 
tireur are too horrible to repeat. They were told earnestly 
and by men not in trifling mood. I believed them, for the 
German from my observation is not given to lying, and I 
could not help recalling the much aired atrocities of the 
Belgians in the Congo Free State. 

Two days before the bombardment of Rheims, I read a 
German proclamation to the French, announcing the bom- 
bardment in conformance with the agreements of the 
Hague Conference, and warning the people not to use the 
Cathedral for military purposes, as the Germans wished to 
spare the structure. The Cathedral was injured in the 
bombardment, and the Germans condemned more severely 
by some people, than for any other of their deeds. And yet, 
I do not believe that any European would wantonly de- 
spoil any work of art, for all Europeans, from the crowned 
head to the workman, love art. And if works of art are 
not used for military purposes, no European will destroy 
them. We cannot say as much for ourselves. Some of us, 
no doubt love the beautiful, but we allow our greatest works 
of nature to be defaced beyond recognition, for the imme- 
diate selfish ends of the few. 

11 



Fraternity, loyalty, self-obliteration are the words 
which come to my mind as most accurately describing the 
German Nation to-day, in this their fight for existence. 
Prince and soldier fight side by side, and at home the 
women are one large army of self-sacrificing untiring 
workers. Whatever its faults may be, and I have not 
been slow to find them heretofore, they are lost to view in 
the nation's present achievements, for to-day she stands 
out grandly possessed of a supreme degree of courage. 

We will never understand the military spirit with 
which every German man, w^oman and child is imbued, un- 
less ^ve remember that for centuries and centuries, it has 
been inherent in the people. In their earliest poetry, we 
find that they believed in an after life of martial character. 
The heroes who fell in battle were the honored ones and 
went to Walhall, where they gathered about Walvater, 
whilst those who died the "Strohtod" (literally straw- 
death i. e. on their beds) had to live with Hel, the ruler of 
the lower world. 

After the Qerman people embraced Christianity, they 
still had to fight for their existence. And it must not be for- 
gotten that this fighting spirit of the German people saved 
Europe from decadent Rome, and that this same spirit in 
the troops led by old "Marshall Vorwaerts," saved the 
English from defeat at Waterloo. 

Knowing Avell the enthusiasm often attaining exalta- 
tion of our own people's patriotism, I venture to say, that 
were we surrounded on all sides by nations inimical to us, 
our military spirit would develop with surprising vigor and 
rapidity at the first intimation of hostilities. How many 
have these intimations been of which Germany was forced 
to take cognizance? 

The Germans hold that our criticism of their militarism 
is a fallacy, and that we might as well denounce England 
for the maintenance of her powerful navy, for England 
would still be a poAver Avithout her navy. 

It seems incredible that circumstances should be 
judged without a knowledge of conditions, or even of simple 
history. I have been told by an Englishman that the 

12 



Germans were descended from the Vandals and the Goths. 
And this man was in the British Consular service. The 
Vandals and Goth (East German tribes), history tells us 
were splendid tribes who unfortunately perished in the 
wars of the Voelkerwanderung. The West German tribes, 
the Franks, Suebi, Alemanni, Saxons, etc., settled in 
middle Europe, in its earliest history, and were the pro- 
genitors of the present German people. Theiv destiny 
became the history of Germany, except for the Angels, a 
branch of the Saxons, who in the fifth century crossed to 
England (Angle-Land) and there founded a kingdom 
whose history is England's. 

I have many times been told that Germany ought to 
give back Alsace-Lorraine to France as it belonged to her 
first. Alsace-Lorraine was part of the land originally oc- 
cupied just after the migration of the Nations (4th — 6th 
centuries) by German tribes, land which extended from 
the Elbe to the heart of the France of to-day. In fact the 
German tribes had settled as early as 72 B.C. in what is 
now known as Alsace. Not until 1648, was a portion of 
Alsace ceded to France. In 1678 Louis XIV began a series 
of systematical robberies of German towns and lands. He 
established "Chambres of Keunion" to give a semblance of 
legality to these proceedings, which ended in the seizure of 
the remaining portion of Alsace in 1681. After the Revo- 
lution of 1789 all that land now called Alsace-Lorraine was 
acquired by France. In 1870, the Germans recaptured it. 

I heard a German statesman laugh heartily when he was 
told that the Kaiser was another Napoleon. "Surely," he 
said, "a. second Napoleon would not be so unnapoleonic as 
to wait with the conquest of the w^orld until he was long 
past middle age, nor would he, with such proclivities, 
have kept peace for twenty-six years. No other civilized 
country can boast a peace of forty-four years as Germany 
can." 

With all her military spirit, I believe Germany is to-day 
the most democratic and the most progressive country in 
the world. And Wilhelm II Rex, Imperator, is the most 

13 



democratic and progressive ruler. There is not a question, 
problem, or institution in all Germany with which he is 
not fully acquainted. He as his fathers before him, lives 
in a very unostentatious manner. His castles are all quite 
plain, and cannot be compared to some of our private 
palaces on Fifth Avenue, much less to the splendors of 
those of Russia. Nor has he a private factory, as I have 
seen in Russia, where the rarest malachite and lapis-lazuli, 
and bushel baskets of rubies and sapphires and emeralds 
are stored for the Czar's pleasure, whilst his subjects, 
many of them half starved, are driven by the knout to do 
his will. 

The Kaiser is the most versatile and the strongest 
personality in the world to-day. His complete conver- 
sion of the Social Democrats, an incorruptible body of 
men, who stand for the strongest and best principles of 
Social Democracy, and who would tolerate no vainglorious 
reasons for war, proves the conviction and earnestness of 
his purpose. 

Volk und Knecht und Ueberwinder 
Sie gestehen zu jeder Zeit 
Hoechstes Glueck der Erdenkinder, 
Sei nur die Persoenlichkeit. 

This man Avith the piercing blue-grey eyes, eyes with 
the power to will, has led his country to a position almost 
half a century ahead of any other nation. Her progress 
has been almost miraculous. Her civic institutions are in 
a perfected state, so much so, that England herself has sent 
men to Germany to study them. She leads in science, art 
and learning. Everywhere throughout the land, there is the 
same clean aspect of the towns, and the same order and 
cleanliness of the people, a spirit of enterprise, and an effi- 
ciency of the public service. The absence of drunkenness 
is noticeable, without restrictive laws regarding the sale of 
liquor, or the closing time of restaurants and cafes. 

The life of the people is freer and richer than with us. 
There are the great public squares and parks, with their 
wonderful orchestras, military, classic, and popular mu- 

14 



sic, to please every taste or mood. The great possibilities 
of education and self-culture, open to all people, tlie higli 
character of their theaters (you will always find Shakes- 
peare and the French classicists, as well as the finest Ger- 
man dramas in their repertory), and the many forms of 
popular recreation, are opportunities open to high and low, 
rich and poor. There are no people suffering from hunger 
and cold, or neglected old age. Her system of Workmen's 
compensation and insurance has become the model which 
other nations have in vain striven -to emulate. For this 
purpose the government has devoted annually over two 
hundred million dollars. 

The cruel shame of letting humanity live and reproduce 
in filthy and crowded tenement houses is unknown. They 
do not commit the crime of letting children grow up in 
filthy streets, forever breathing the polluted atmosphere 
of filth and disease, and never having a glimpse of nature's 
beauties. Every individual is entitled to an existence and 
he gets it. 

Und das heilige Menschenrecht 
Gilt dem Herren wie dem Knecht. 

I have heard objections to the paternalism of the Ger- 
man government, but as all government implies paternal- 
ism, and as we are not good enough to govern ourselves, it 
seems infinitely better for a government to take care of its 
suffering people, than to have a handful of private indi- 
viduals spasmodically hurl charity and philanthropy, at 
their heads. The words charity, except in the biblical 
sense — love — and philanthropy, which never has and never 
will warm the heart, ought to fall into desuetude. 

Not only are the Germans human beings, but persons 
Avho do things so well, that we must have an uncomfort- 
able suspicion that they do things better than we do. 
"There is no virtue so truly great and godlike as justice," 
and I can not but feel, that we, who claim a high en- 
dowment of that greatest of virtues, are doing ourselves a 
grave injury by summarily condemning a nation without 
an appreciation of its case. 

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